Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Seri Pristana teachers to be probed for bullying, says minister

Malaysia

Seri Pristana teachers to be probed for bullying, says minister

BY TRINNA LEONGSeptember 10, 2013

Malaysian InsiderLatest Update: September 10, 2013 02:56 pm

Several
teachers who had allegedly harassed pupils of SK Seri Pristana after
the eating in the shower room incident went public will be called up by
the education ministry, said Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris
Jusoh (pic).

The statement by the minister came about after headmaster Mohd Nasir
Mohd Noor had reportedly apologised to parents yesterday in a
Parent-Teacher Association meeting over his decision to order non-Muslim
pupils to spend their recess in the shower room during the fasting
month.

"There are mistakes made by teachers. Then, there are allegations that
teachers beat their students," Idris said, adding, "We will make sure
action is taken against those involved.

According to Idris, the ministry is doing what it could to "calm the
situation" but is facing problems with certain parties who are bent on
"fuelling the issue further".
"There are those who are taking advantage of the situation," added Idris.

He, however, stressed that the Seri Pristana issue had nothing to do with race.
The school came to light after a concerned parent, Guneswari Kelly, had
uploaded a picture of non-Muslim students in the shower room, eating
during recess, on Facebook. The picture went viral and caused an uproar
among the public.

Following that, 18 police reports were lodged against the school and
its headmaster while the school replied with four reports of its own,
claiming that the headmaster and several teachers were threatened.
Guneswari and two other non-Muslim parents have since transferred their
children out of the school following complaints of bullying and
intimidation by teachers and other pupils after the issue blew up in
July. At least 10 other non-Muslim parents were also reported as saying
that they, too, would seek transfers to other schools.

It was also reported that the headmaster allowed policemen into the
school to interview several pupils over the reports. This angered
parents who claimed that their children were traumatised after being
questioned by police.

Police had earlier denied that they spoke to the pupils but later
admitted they did speak to the children after getting the headmaster's
approval.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) also came out to
defend the police and said that there was nothing wrong with police
questioning pupils of SK Seri Pristana.

Although the school reopened its canteen for students to use after the
issue boiled over, it was not back to normal for the pupils of Seri
Pristana.

Allegations of harassment and intimidation surfaced, bringing no end to
the issue of discrimination against students whose parents stood up
against the authorities and the school administration. – September 10,
2013.